Review: Ready Player One is a generation X dream

At this point in time, you have most likely heard of the book Ready Player One, or maybe you have heard about the movie based on it. With a new trailer coming out earlier this year, and the movie coming out this March, the book has become a pop culture icon in the literature scene.

Now, before we start, i want to give warning that there will be both a non-spoiler review and a spoiler review. There will be indicators stating when the non-spoiler review ends and when the spoiler review begins. Thank you for reading!

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

The book, written by Ernest Cline, has become a symbol of a good adventure story that includes references to so many properties, you could write a book about them on its own. The thing is, that’s actually Ernest Cline’s ace, pop culture. As both Ready Player One and his newest book Armada do contain huge amounts of movie and TV references, as said by Cline himself.

Maybe you’re not one for sci-fi, maybe you hate all the ideas of virtual reality and all the elements within it, you’d probably still be one for this book. Even if it’s sci-fi themes are the main idea of the book, it’s still a really good romance and adventure novel. If you do just like reading in general, this is a good use of your time.

So, what is this that I’m hyping up so much about?

To put it simply, it’s about a virtual world, know as the OASIS, is put into danger after the owner dies. The owners last will was to create a contest that if you win, you are the owner of the OASIS. But, a corrupt corporation wants to win the competition and take over the OASIS, filling it with advertisements and making you pay more fees for certain features. Huh, sounds like something similar happening in our world right now, right?

With the plot unfolding and twists and turns coming out of nowhere, the book becomes an amazing masterpiece with great characters and an even greater story. Sadly, though, the ending falls a little flat, some loose ties not cut. Though, I won’t spoil it too much, at least in this version of the review.

So, overall, Ready Player One is a beautiful book that praises the 70s and 80s, and that appeals to all, so I give it a:

4.5 out of 5.

I thank you for reading, and hope that this review influences you to buy the book, I know Ernest Cline deserves it. And now, for those who’ve already read the book, or maybe you just do not want to read the book, here’s the spoilers section.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So, the book is amazing. The concept of a corrupt company that ACTUALLY does horrible stuff is kind of cool. When the IOI blew up Wade’s house, killing other people, it was sort of shocking. It was like “Oh my god they actually did that.” And when Daito was killed, it was a hit even harder.

As mentioned many times before, this whole book is a love letter to Gen X. With constant references to stuff like WarGames and video games like Black Tiger, it seems that if you lived in the 80s, you’d just about get a high off of this book.

Also, it was hard to realize when Wade got arrested, that he did it on purpose. Just the whole overall ending with the huge battle and final gate was really good. While the last few paragraphs with Art3mis and Wade are really flat and it just seems like a forced resolution. But yet with it’s minor flaws, the book still is amazing. So I do stick to my rating. If you’re reading this, you’ve already probably read the book, so I won’t tell you to buy it. And if you just didn’t want to buy the book, still do, it’s really good.